Three of Spain’s largest firms paid an alleged lover of former King Juan Carlos £4.6million to keep evidence of their affair secret, according to the leaked diaries of disgraced police commissioner.
Repsol, Santander and Telefonica each paid £1.8million to in installments starting in the late 1990s to the country’s security service which then passed the money to model and Miss World contestant Barbara Rey, the diaries allege.
The money changed hands after José María Aznar, Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2006, met with Repsol boss Ramón Blanco Balín and asked him to transfer the funds while assuring him the other firms were also paying up, the diary says.
The pages were uncovered after Emilio Alonso Manglano, the former head of Spain’s security service, alleged in his memoirs that Ms Rey had video tapes of her and King Carlos together and had received large sums of money to keep them secret.
Ms. Rey is an actress and model who has repeatedly denied receiving any money from Juan Carlos, or any other members of his circle. None of the listed companies have responded to the journal.
Barbara Rey (left in 1970, right in 1980) was allegedly paid £4.6m by Spain’s three largest companies starting in the late 90s in order to keep an affair with then-King Juan Carlos a secret
Juan Carlos, pictured in 2004 with Sofia, is believed to have been caught in unsavory situations by Ms Rey using cameras that were hidden in her house during the trysts
Juan Carlos abdicated his throne and lives now in Abu Dhabi in self-imposed exile. He is also facing corruption charges at home. Juan Carlos has said that he was open to speaking with the prosecutor.
The diary entries were allegedly penned by José Manuel Villarejo, an undercover cop who is accused of being a ‘state fixer’ and is currently facing dozens of trials.
Spanish newspaper El Periodico claims to have tracked down the pages, dated from September 2015, after claims that Rey had ‘blackmailed’ Juan Carlos featured in a recent book by two Spanish journalists and were last week discussed on TV.
On September 27, Villarejo is said to have detailed a meeting he had with Balín – a prominent businessman – in which Balin confessed to the payments.
Juan Carlos has been accused of being a serial cheater.
Villarejo says that Balin told him he was approached by Aznar – a friend from his time working as State Finance Inspector – and told to make six annual payments from Repsol, an energy and pharmaceutical giant, that would total £1.8million.
‘[Repsol]Donated the money to CESID [the old name for Spain’s security service]And they gave to the artist. El Periodico quotes El Periodico’s diary as reading.
Balin was informed that Telefonica, the biggest telephone operator in the country, and Santander would both make similar payments. According to the diaries.
While Balin did not state what the payments were for, the diary entry was only tracked down after Alberto Saiz Cortés – head of Spain’s modern-day secret service CNI – accused Rey of ‘blackmailing’ Carlos over an alleged affair.
Cortés spoke about the allegation on Spanish TV show Salvados last week, during which he said the payments ‘could have come from “external donors” and not directly from public money.’
He also claimed that Rey was given preferential treatment for contracts on Valencian TV shows and other publicity in exchange for her silence.
Cortes is not the only Spanish Secret Service boss to claim the affair occurred, nor was Rey paid for keeping silent.
Emilio Alonso Manglano Manglano, the chief of the service between 1981 and 1995, stated in his memoirs (published in October by two Spanish journalist) that Rey was given large amounts of money for her refusal to disclose her affair in the King’s name.
Rey was also accused of having video tapes that Rey made while they were engaged in sex. The footage had been captured using three hidden cameras inside her house.
‘[There are] hidden cameras in the dining room and two more in the bedroom. You can hear everything,’ Manglano recalled telling colleagues at the time.
Ms Rey (left and right in 1974) has admitted to having an affair with a ‘senior figure from the state’, but has never publicly named Juan Carlos as that man
Juan Carlos’s reign was ended in scandal in 2014 by his affair with Corinna Larrison (pictured). His son King Felipe succeeded him and he abdicated.
Now 71 years old, Ms Rey was a Spanish model that won second place in Miss Spain 1970. However, she was allowed to participate at Miss World 1971 after Spain’s highest-placed finisher quit the contest.
Competing under her original name Maria Garcia, she finished in the top 15 behind Brazil’s Lúcia Petterle in first place with the UK’s Marilyn Ann Ward runner-up.
Her big break came four years later, when she was cast in TV show Palmarés which established her as a sex symbol. Her career included roles in theatres and income shows as well as TV and film stardom.
In 1980 she married a circus lion tamer, Ángel Cristo, with whom she has two children. In 1998, the couple split.
Although it’s not clear how or when she first met Juan Carlos, the alleged affair is believed to have occurred sometime between 1980s and 1990s.
She has never admitted that Juan Carlos, now 83, was her lover – but has confessed that she had an affair with a ‘senior figure from the state’.
In 1997, her house was burgled and she claims that documents, negatives and video tape was stolen which could compromise ‘important people’.
Juan Carlos I was King of Spain between 1975 and 2014. He abdicated to Felipe VI in favor of Juan Carlos II. With his 75-year-old wife Sofia, he has three children.
Jose Manuel Villarejo is currently being tried for allegedly making payments to a former state police chief and commissioner.
Juan Carlos (right) lives now in Abu Dhabi in exile with Sofia (far left), his son Felipe (centre-left) and Letizia (far-right) took the throne.
According to a military historian and author, he is believed to be a serial cheater. He also claimed that he loved 5,000 people.
Carlos, it is claimed, made fun of Princess Diana while she was on holiday at Charles’ Majorca palace in 1986. The princess once said that he might be too attentive during meetings.
During a recent trial, Villarejo even went so far as to claim that secret service agents had injected the King with female hormones to try and curb his sexual appetites.
Corinna Larsen (Danish-German philanthropist), Sara Montiel (Spanish singer Sara Montiel), Liliane Sartiau, a Belgian governess, and Maria Gabriela de Saboya, an Italian princess, are some of his rumoured partners.
His reign ended in disgrace in 2014 when his relationship with Ms Larson – real name Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein – was made public.
After Swiss prosecutors opened an inquiry into accounts held by the accused in tax havens and he left Spain, the 83 year-old fled to Abu Dhabi.
Juan Carlos has denied any wrongdoing, and said that he would be available to answer questions from prosecutors.